England put nightmare behind them

Monday 28 October 2002 11.10 EST
First published on Monday 28 October 2002 11.10 EST

England put their laughing-stock start to the Ashes tour behind them by dismissing Western Australia for 213 on the opening day of their three-day game at the Waca in Perth. Andy Caddick was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 for 49, while Ashley Giles chipped in with 3 for 42.

Robert Key and Marcus Trescothick then gave England a flying start in reply, closing on 54 for 0 after nine overs on a rain-affected day.

But England will be just as delighted with the form of Steve Harmison, who desperately needed a thoroughbred performance after playing the pantomime horse in the tour opener at Lilac Hill, when he delivered 16 wides, seven of them in succession. Harmison took 2 for 30 in 11 overs (with just one wide) to push his claim for a place in the first Test, which begins at Brisbane on November 7.

"It wasn't brilliant today, but it was a lot better than at Lilac Hill and there's been a little bit of an improvement since then," he said. "I was possibly trying too hard during that first match, but it was a one-day game and I've never really played much one-day cricket.

"My confidence was dented a touch and I struggled early on, but I started to get some rhythm today and it felt a lot better. I'm gradually getting my confidence to where I want it to be and I want to get better and better. "Hopefully I can get some more overs under my belt in the next couple of weeks and get my rhythm fully back from that."

England were held up by a 45-minute break for rain in the morning, but Caddick wasted little time. He had Justin Langer, the WA captain and Test opener, caught at short leg by John Crawley for 13 after pushing forward and getting an inside edge, and then dismissed Chris Rogers for 7, caught behind by Alec Stewart.

With the run-rate dropping to around two an over, Harmison had the opener Scott Meuleman caught behind, and in the next over Mike Hussey, the Northamptonshire captain, edged Caddick to Trescothick at third slip for a 14-ball duck.

That made it 54 for 4, but the wicketkeeper, Ryan Campbell, and Marcus North threatened to turn things round with a quickfire stand of 66 before Harmison persuaded Campbell to hook to Caddick in the deep for 37.

After that, Giles helped winkle out the tail, and - encouragingly for England - Simon Jones, fully recovered from a side strain, took a wicket too when Matt Nicholson edged to Key. Caddick returned to get rid of the No.11, Jo Angel, and England were on their way to exorcising the ghosts of Waca Past. North finished unbeaten on 71.

Trescothick, who has a shoulder niggle, and Key then got stuck into the WA attack after a cautious start, and slammed 45 runs off the final five overs of the day to put England in charge.